3
But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
My Thoughts
Psalm 115:3 emphasizes God’s sovereignty, stating He is in heaven and does whatever He pleases. This reflects His supreme authority over all creation, with His plans and purposes being carried out regardless of human understanding. Believers are encouraged to trust in His wisdom and divine will, even amid uncertainty……Bill
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Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
“But our God is in the heavens“—where he should be; above the reach of mortal sneers, overhearing all the vain jangling of men, but looking down with silent scorn upon the makers of the babel. Supreme above all opposing powers, the Lord reigneth upon a throne high and lifted up. Incomprehensible in essence, he rises above the loftiest thought of the wise; absolute in will and infinite in power, he is superior to the limitations which belong to earth and time. This God is our God, and we are not ashamed to own him, albeit he may not work miracles at the beck and call of every vain-glorious boaster who may choose to challenge him. Once they bade his Son come down from the cross and they would believe in him, now they would have God overstep the ordinary bounds of his providence and come down from heaven to convince them: but other matters occupy his august mind besides the convincement of those who willfully shut their eyes to the superabundant evidences of his divine power and Godhead, which are all around them. If our God be neither seen nor heard, and is not to be worshipped under any outward symbol, yet is he nonetheless real and true, for he is where his adversaries can never be—in the heavens, whence he stretches forth his scepter, and rules with boundless power.
“He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” Up till this moment, his decrees have been fulfilled, and his eternal purposes accomplished; he has not been asleep, nor oblivious of the affairs of men; he has worked, and he has worked effectually, none have been able to thwart, nor even so much as to hinder him. “Whatsoever he hath pleased:” however distasteful to his enemies, the Lord has accomplished all his good pleasure without difficulty; even when his adversaries raved and raged against him they have been compelled to carry out his designs against their will. Even proud Pharaoh, when most defiant of the Lord was but as clay upon the potter’s wheel, and the Lord’s end and design in him were fully answered. We may well endure the jeering question, “Where is now their God?” while we are perfectly sure that his providence is undisturbed, his throne unshaken, and his purposes unchanged. What he hath done he will yet do, his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure, and at the end of the great drama of human history, the omnipotence of God and his immutability and faithfulness will be more than vindicated to the eternal confusion of his adversaries.
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Albert Barnes
But our God is in the heavens – The Septuagint adds, “and in the earth.” This is not, however, in the Hebrew. The idea is, Our God really exists. He is the true God. He reigns in heaven. His plans are such as are and should be formed in heaven: lofty, vast, incomprehensible. But he is still our God; our Ruler; our Protector. He is not a god of earth – whose origin is earth – who dwells on earth alone – like the idols of the pagan; but the whole vast universe is under his control.
He hath done whatsoever he hath pleased – And, therefore, what has been done is right, and we should be submissive to it. He is a sovereign God, and mysterious as are his doings, and much as there seems to be occasion to ask the question “Where is now your God?” yet we are to feel that what has occurred has been in accordance with his eternal plans, and is to be submitted to as a part of his arrangements. It is, in fact, always a sufficient answer to the objections which are made to the government of God, as if he had forsaken his people in bringing affliction on them, and leaving them, apparently without interposition, to poverty, to persecution, and to tears, that he is “in the heavens;” that he rules there and everywhere; that he has his own eternal purposes; and that all things are ordered in accordance with his will. There must, therefore, be some good reason why events occur as they actually do.
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John Gill
But our God is in the heavens,…. His habitation is in the heavens, as the Targum; the Septuagint and Arabic versions add, “and in earth”: he is in both, and fills both with his presence and cannot be contained in either. He is the Maker and Possessor of heaven and earth; the one is his throne, and the other is his footstool: he dwells in the highest heaven, and overlooks all persons and things on earth, and overrules all; he is higher than the highest, and his kingdom ruleth over all.
He hath done whatsoever he pleased; in creation, in providence, and in grace: he hath made what creatures he pleased, and for his pleasure; and he does according to his will, and after the counsel of it, in heaven and in earth; and is gracious to whom he will be gracious; saves and calls men, not according to their works, but according to his own purpose and will; whose counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure; he is the most high God, and a sovereign Being; all that he wills are possible to him, and easily done by him, and which Heathens themselves own.
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Matthew Henry
He gives a direct answer to their question, v. 3. “Do they ask where is our God? We can tell where he is.”
(1.) “In the upper world is the presence of his glory: Our God is in the heavens, where the gods of the heathen never were, in the heavens, and therefore out of sight; but, though his majesty be unapproachable, it does not, therefore, follow that his being is questionable.”
(2.) “In the lower world are the products of his power: He has done whatsoever he pleased, according to the counsel of his will; he has a sovereign dominion and a universal uncontrollable influence. Do you ask where he is? He is at the beginning and end of everything, and not far from any of us.“
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John D. Barry
our God The psalmist is not asking God to prove Himself so that Israel will remain loyal, but so that the other nations will see his power and recognize Him.
is in the heavens See note on 108:5.
John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Ps 115:3.
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Tony Evans
The nations in the ancient world had idols, visual representations of the gods they worshiped. Thus, when they looked at Israel—for whom idolatry was forbidden (see Exod 20:4–5)—they asked, Where is their God? (115:2). The psalmist answered: Our God is in heaven and does whatever he pleases (115:3). In other words, the Lord is not a finite idol, but rather a limitless, transcendent God with the sovereign power to accomplish his will.
Tony Evans, The Tony Evans Bible Commentary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2019), 565.
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A. R. Fausset
But our God is in the heavens. The “our” is emphatical. The heathen do not know the infinite distance that separates our God from their idols (Ps. 2:4; 11:4; 103:19). He is with heavenly majesty raised far above the earth, which is the home of the idols. These idols are the devices of earthly men, and therefore subject to earthly powerlessness. he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased—whereas the idols cannot do what they will; nay, cannot even wish or will anything, being but idols. God (cf. Gen. 18:14) can effect, as soon as He wills, whatsoever He willeth. It was not from want of power, but because of His goodness, wisdom, and justice, that He heretofore suffered Israel to be afflicted. In His own good time, and according to the good pleasure of His will, He will restore Israel (Eph. 1:5; Acts 1:6, 7).
A. R. Fausset, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental, and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments: Job–Isaiah, vol. III (London; Glasgow: William Collins, Sons, & Company, Limited, n.d.), 353.
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Cross References
Psalm 135:6 (KJV )
6 Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
That did he in heaven, and in earth,
In the seas, and all deep places.
Daniel 4:35 (KJV )
35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
Matthew 6:9 (KJV )
9 After this manner therefore pray ye:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Ephesians 1:11 (KJV )
11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Jonah 1:14 (KJV )
14 Wherefore they cried unto the Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not upon us innocent blood: for thou, O Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.
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KJV W/Strongs Bible
115:3 But our God 430 [is] in the heavens 8064: he hath done 6213 8804 whatsoever he hath pleased 2654 8804.
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Geneva Bible 1560
Psalm 115:3
3 But our God is in heaven: he doeth whatsoever he (c) wil.
(c) No impediments can let his work, but he uses even the impediments to serve his will.
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Final Thoughts:
Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 9:23-24 NASB1995
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